Frederick Douglass Struggles

In Frederick Douglass’ words, “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” Douglass implies that it takes more than praying to make his dreams become a reality. Not only has he has been faithful to God, but he prays often as well. Praying has not been working in his favor because he has still been confined to the life of a slave. He is still bound to the dehumanizing effects of bondage. Therefore, he took it upon himself to change his way of life. This means that he used his legs to make his prayer come true. He ends up running away and becoming a free man, but he did this through his actions. Thus, he took his troubles and did something to solve it. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass was an autobiography

Although luck had played a part in Douglass’ life, it was ultimately his ability to acknowledge and attack his problems that helped him overcome his obstacles. Douglass was lucky enough to have a mistress who would teach him. Douglass was a child when he stayed at Colonel Lloyd’s plantation. He was given little clothing to wear, and the food they administered was boil ground corn. Douglass was in poor condition since his feet was frost-bitten due to lack of clothing. Anthony, Douglass’ old master, wanted to take Douglass back to Baltimore with him. Elated, Douglass immediately started to pack away his belongings, and rid of himself of any dirt he may have had. He has heard that life in Baltimore was different than life in the country. He has heard that a slave in Baltimore has more privileges. It was his chance to leave Colonel Lloyd’s plantation and go to the city. After moving to Baltimore, he met his new mistress named Mrs. Auld. She was a kind mistress to Douglass. Her attitude towards Douglass was foriegn since it was not common for a white person to treat the slave kindly. Mrs. Auld was different than the other masters he was used to. Instead of acting

Mrs. Auld refrained from teaching Douglass, he was not given permission to read. Mr. Auld convinced Mrs. Auld that that when a slave is educated, they would not want to be a slave anymore. They would think that they are too good to be a slave. In fact, when she caught Douglass reading a newspaper she would go into a rage. This was the charge that ignited the idea that slavery is harmful to the slaves as well as the slave-owners. For example, Mrs. Auld was once a pleasant lady who respected Douglass. Although, when Mr. Auld scolded her about the dangers of a slave reading, she began to change. It did not settle right with Douglass because after he was given a dose of education, he did not want to terminate the lessons. He wanted to use literacy as a combat to slavery. He figured since the slave-holders did not want him to read, then he should go ahead and read. As a result, he sought out new ways of gaining more tutoring. One way he does this was by making friends with the white children in the streets. They did not mind teaching him to read because they wanted to tell them what they learned from school. Often times he would trade bread for sessions with the children that were poor. They were willing to teach Douglass because their minds were not tainted from slavery. They did not have the mindset that a slave should not read. In this case, Douglass found it problematic that he can